Present day mobile platforms, for example aircraft, are complete with numerous complex components. Many of these components are integral to the operation of the mobile platform, while others are used for entertainment or information exchange by passengers. As the complexity and number of these components increases, it becomes necessary to monitor their status by a management system (typically located apart from the mobile platform, such as a ground control station in the case of an aircraft).
However, the total amount of information about each and every component is relatively large and would require large amounts of bandwidth to transmit to a management system. Moreover, maintaining a continuous communications link to continuously monitor the components and transmit status information is even more expensive. Still further, present day systems often require significant work at a terrestrial base station to gather relevant information and process the information into readily useable form. This often increases the resources needed at the terrestrial base station.